Danish Kaneira

Monday, April 02, 2012

Seventh was a hugely disappointing return for a side that had been in Division 1 the season before last. Can they mount a promotion challenge this season?

Strengths

Charl Willoughby joins to offer support to David Masters who took 93 wickets in Division 2 last season - both should prove excellent mentors for young tyros Tymal Mills and Reece Topley. Another acquisition is Alviro Petersen following his acrimonious departure from Glamorgan who will add steel to the batting line-up in the first part of the summer. James Foster is still the best keeper in the country and was also the County's leading run scorer in 2011. Ravi Bopara and Owais Shah add class to a batting line-up, which also features the promising Adam Wheater.

Weaknesses

No-one reached 1,000 Championship runs last season and with Alastair Cook and Bopara lost to England, Shah to the IPL and Petersen to the South African tourists, a lot will once again depend on Foster. Tony Blair wouldn't approve of the distinct lack of spin. If Masters gets injured they could struggle to take wickets.

Main man

With apologies to Masters, the main man as ever at Chelmsford is the superlative James Foster - captain, keeper extraordinaire and a much better batsmen than many give him credit for - including sadly the England selectors over the last ten years.

Look out for

Changes to the breakfast menu at Chelmsford. After the Mervyn Westfield trail, Danish pastries are likely to have been removed from the menu.

Prediction

4th - The two teams coming down from Division 1 look particularly strong so whilst Essex will improve on 2011 they will probably fall short of promotion.

Tuesday, April 05, 2011

After just one season in Division 1, Essex crashed down to whence they came in 2010, and the sad truth was that they just didn’t cut the mustard when mixing it with the big boys. Can they bounce back in 2011?

Strengths

Alastair Cook morphed into the bastard child of Wally Hammond and Herbert Sutcliffe in Australia last winter, so is a good tip to fill his boots before the Sri Lanka series at the end of May. Ravi Bopara and Owais Shah (when he returns from the IPL) should also enjoy facing Division 2 bowling, and James Foster can always be relied open for runs and some sharp work with the gloves. Then there is Ryan ten Doeschate who England fans know all about after his hundred for Netherlands in the World Cup.

Weaknesses

Danish Kaneria has departed, so Essex look short in the spin department and the seam bowling stocks aren't much better. As such taking twenty wickets with any regularity could be a problem especially if the likes of David Masters or Maurice Chambers get injuries.

Main man

In his benefit season, expect James Foster to again show England what they are missing. Fans of Chris Read may disagree, but there is not a better English keeper out there than the Essex gloveman.

Look out for…

The late addition of an overseas quick – Peter Siddle had been mooted but is now no longer an option.

Wednesday, December 22, 2010

After all the talk of securing the Ashes before Christmas and going through the tour unbeaten, England certainly came crashing back down to earth in Perth. Indeed, the collapse from 78/0 to 187 all out in the first innings was so disappointing that Icarus himself could have been the pilot of England’s doom. And it got worse in the second innings too with the capitulation for 123 reminding us that being an England cricket fan can be tough.

In fact, with alarming regularity, England’s batting has a tendency to brittleness and being prone to collapse like a house of cards in a force nine gale. On far too many occasions in our 30 years of following England expectation and anticipation can quickly turn into crushing disappointment, misery and despair.

Here is a dirty dozen of England’s worst batting performances over this time. Unfortunately, it is not an exhaustive list but merely one compiled of those disasters that come most easily to mind.

1. 51 all out, 2nd innings, vs West Indies, 1st Test, Kingston, 2009

In an inauspicious start for Andy Flower in his first match in charge, England started their 2ndinnings 74 runs behind. Just 33.2 overs later England were all out for 51. Coincidentally, this was almost a role reversal of what had happened at the same ground five years before when Steve Harmison, with 7 for 12 had bowled the West Indies out for 47.

Having played well throughout the match, England had been set 194 to win and were confident even though they needed to get the better of Curtly Ambrose and Courtney Walsh to reach their target. Nineteen overs of hostile fast bowling later, England were dismissed for a paltry 46, Ambrose with 6 for 24 and Walsh 3 for 16.

3. 79 all out, 2nd innings, vs Australia, 1st Test, Brisbane, 2003

After Nasser Hussain’s bizarre decision to give Australia first use of a flat Gabba track, England were always chasing this game especially with Matthew Hayden scoring a century in each innings. Set an unlikely 463 to win, England were demolished for 79. And Mark Butcher scored 40 of this dismal total!

4. 175 all out, 2nd innings, vs Pakistan, 1st Test, Multan, 2005

After dominating this match, with Marcus Trescothick scoring 193 in England’s 1stinnings and Andrew Flintoff taking match figures of 8 for 156, England were set 198 to win on the last day of the 1stTest. However, they fell 22 runs short to the express pace of Shoaib Akhtar and the wily spin of Danish Kaneira. The balloon of optimism from the 2005 Ashes success had been burst after only one match.

5. 129 all out, 2nd innings, vs Australia, 2nd Test, Adelaide, 2006

On the flattest of flat pitches England had scored 551 for 6 in their 1stinnings, with Paul Collingwood scoring a double century. Although Australia had responded with 513 all out, surely England couldn’t lose from here? Even the Australians, Shane Warne apart, expected the game to meander to a draw. However, after a shocking and timid display England were bowled out for 129 in 73 overs. Australia won by six wickets, and England, with Flintoff crying as he bowled, never recovered and lost the series 5-0.

Not one but two dismal batting performances in the same match. The nadir of a shambolic tour to the land of the long white cloud in 1983 was the 2ndTest at Christchurch, where after New Zealand made 307 in their 1st innings, England were shot for 82 and 93, following on, to lose by an innings. Richard Hadlee had match figures of 8 for 44.

7. 162 all out, 2ndinnings, vs New Zealand, 4th Test, The Oval, 1999

In this fourth and deciding Test of the series, England suffered the ignominy of defeat against a New Zealand side that had previously been ranked the worst team in Test cricket. Chasing 245 to win, England slumped from 123 for 2 to 162 all out to replace the Kiwis at the bottom of the rankings. Fortunately, Nasser Hussain recovered from this inauspicious start to his captaincy to help forge a more resilient England side in tandem with Duncan Fletcher.

England were shot out for 203 by a South African side that had just had to save the 1stTest at Lords. England, who had brought the hitherto unknown Darren Pattinson in for Collingwood, were blown away in 52.3 overs. South Africa responded with 522 and England eventually lost by ten wickets. This defeat and another one in the following Test at Edgbaston led to the resignation of Ashes hero Michael Vaughan as skipper.

9. 222 all out, 2nd innings, vs Pakistan, 3rd Test, The Oval, 2010

Having recovered from 94/7 in the first innings thanks to Matt Prior’s 84, England started their second innings 75 behind Pakistan. However, with Alastair Cook hitting a career saving hundred, England were 81 ahead with only two wickets down. Then Cook’s demise led to a sorry procession and the last seven wickets fell for 28 and despite a late flurry of wickets, Pakistan won by 4 wickets.

10. 155 all out, 1st innings, vs Australia, 1st Test, Lords, 2005

After bowling the Aussies out for 190, with Harmison taking 5 for 43, England collapsed to 21 for 5 thanks to their nemesis Glenn McGrath. Although the Aussies went on to win this battle by 239 runs, England won the war, the adulation, the Trafalgar Square celebrations and their MBEs.

Having escaped by the skin of their teeth in the previous test at Cape Town, England went into the final test at The Wanderers needing just a draw to win the series. Unfortunately as at the WACA, the pitch had pace and bounce, and when Andrew Strauss was out to the first ball of the match, England’s defeat seemed inevitable. They weren’t helped by Daryl Harper’s ineptitude in the video umpire’s chair enabling Graeme Smith to be reprieved on the way to a hundred, but it was their inability to face the pace barrage from Dale Steyn and Morne Morkel - who snared 14 wickets between them - that hastened their doom.

12. 102 all out, 1st innings, vs Australia, 4thTest, Headingley, 2009

With all the talk before hand being about how a win would enable England to regain the Ashes (remind anyone of anything?), a confident Strauss elected to bat on a bowler friendly Headingley surface. But, fears that in the absence of Kevin Pietersen, the England batting was totally reliant on Strauss came to pass. With Stuart Broad batting too high at seven in the absence of Flintoff, and the selectors continuing to rely on an out of his depth Ravi Bopara, at number three, Australia roared back into the series. Happily for England, they bounced back to win the series and the Ashes in the next test at The Oval – can they repeat the trick in Melbourne?

Monday, August 02, 2010

After the euphoria of the Headingley win over Australia, Pakistan came crashing down to earth with a bump at Trent Bridge. The margin of victory didn't tell the whole story however, as on Saturday afternoon with England 98 for six, some Pakistan supporters may have been sensing an unlikely victory.

However, the Pakistan batting is in such a parlous state that even chasing a target of 120 would have probably been beyond them. To say the batters let down the star pace trio of Mohammad Asif, Mohammad Aamer and Umar Gul would be a massive understatement.

The PCB have now pressed the panic button and sent for the cavalry in the shape of the supposedly 'retired' Mohammad Yousuf. That the Pakistan batting needs more quality and experience is a given, but bringing back Yousuf who has not played first class cricket since March seems strange when Younis Khan is also available and has recently played county cricket for Surrey.

The treatment of Danish Kaneira is even worse. Yes, he had an appalling match at Trent Bridge, but he did reasonably well against Australia and to send a man with 261 wickets back to county cricket rather than working with him in the nets seems very peculiar.

Salman Butt certainly has a lot on his hands, not least the interesting prospect of brokering some sort of peace deal between Yousuf and Shoaib Malik, who have been at daggers drawn for some time. According to Cricinfo, Butt and team coach Waqar Younis were not even consulted about Yousuf's inclusion so the next few weeks could provoke yet more turmoil in the mad world of Pakistan cricket.

Here are the marks out of ten for the XI who played at Trent Bridge:

Imran Farhat - 6 Of the Pakistan top five, Farhat was the best of a bad bunch as at least he fought and stuck around for a while in both innings. The ball from Anderson that bowled him in the first innings was an absolute cracker that better batsmen than Farhat would have struggled to keep out.

Salman Butt - 4 Two single figure scores from the captain, with his dismissal in the second innings being particularly disappointing. Only two matches into his captaincy, Butt now has the interesting prospect of reintegrating the precious Yousuf back into the fold.

Azhar Ali - 4 Foolishly didn't refer his dismissal in the first innings, where he was caught after the ball clipped his pocket and then made a duck in the second innings. Should be retained however, as Azhar looked pretty good against the Aussies.

Umar Amin - 3 Likely to be the fall guy who has to make way for Yousuf, and to tell the truth looks a bit out of his depth at this level. The folly of playing two inexperienced players at three and four cost Pakistan dearly here.

Umar Akmal - 3 Poor dismissals in both innings having only scored four runs each time. The good impression he made in New Zealand and Australia over the winter is fading fast. Is it a lack of confidence or over-confidence?

Shoaib Malik - 6 Looked the most assured of all the Pakistan batsmen in the first innings other than Gul and also took a couple of wickets with his offbreaks. We wonder how much Malik is looking forward to his reunion with Yousuf? Oh, to be a fly on the wall of that particular meeting.

Kamran Akmal - 1 The wicketkeeper was going to have to go some to beat his Sydney flop, but he may just have managed it here. Stood too far back, so missed getting Morgan early during his hundred, dropped a straightforward chance to reprieve Strauss and then there was the astonishing missed stumping of Collingwood. To cap a thoroughly miserable match, Akmal then bagged a pair. Gets a point for his stunning catch to dismiss Pietersen in the second innings, although even that was a bit fortunate given that it stuck in his webbing.

Mohammad Aamer - 8 Showed more application with the bat than any of his supposed specialist batting colleagues, and bowled with heart, fire and skill throughout the game. A real talent.

Umar Gul - 8 Bowled like a drain in the first innings, but his brilliant 65 not out saved Pakistan from the follow-on. This seemed to inspire him and his bowling rhythm returned in the second innings with three deserved wickets.

Danish Kaneira - 2 A game to forget for Kaneria with 1 wicket for 171 from only 33 overs, but does he deserve to be sent back to Essex? A man with 261 test wickets deserves better.

Mohammad Asif - 8 Bowled beautifully on the second morning to inspire an England collapse and then reached his century of test wickets in only his 20th test to equal Waqar's Pakistan record. Rated the second best bowler in the world, and looked every inch of it. Like Aamer and Gul, deserves to be playing in a side with a stronger batting line-up.

Monday, July 26, 2010

Pakistan cricket can be accused of a lot of things but boring is not one of them. Accordingly, a wonderful test match at Headingley had a fittingly nail biting ending before Pakistan finally threw the monkey off their backs and beat Australia in a test match for the first time since Mushtaq Ahmed spun them to victory at Sydney in 1995.

It may only have been a two match series, but the MCC Spirit of Cricket Series saw Pakistan field two captains after Shahid Afridi lost his marbles at Lord's. Salman Butt made an impressive start to his reign. He even showed he had that most important of assets a captain needs. Luck. Both times he brought on the part-time medium pace of Umar Amin he was rewarded with a wicket.

Despite possessing arguably the best pace attack in world cricket at the moment (although South African supporters may question that), Pakistan are far from the finished article. Butt is the only batsman who has sufficient experience and class and the side could do with at least one of Younis Khan or Mohammad Yousuf; both of whom average over 50 in test cricket.

That said, some of the ingredients are there to suggest that Pakistan are going to be competitive against England in the forthcoming series. Here are the Reverse Sweep marks out of ten for those that played in the two games against Australia.

Salman Butt - 8 (213 runs, Average 53.25, HS 92): Looked a class apart from his batting colleagues at Lord's, where he should have converted at least one of his fifties into a big hundred. Then from the chaos of Afridi's resignation, he captained the side with aplomb at Headingley. Now needs to get that batting average where it belongs for someone with his talent - over 40.

Imran Farhat - 7 (138 runs, Average 34.50, HS 67): Gets an extra point for his patient and composed 67 in the run chase at Headingley. He may not be the most popular player amongst his own supporters judging by comments on Twitter or Test Match Sofa, but the talent is there. Needs to make his Headingley knock the template for the future.

Azhar Ali - 7 (139 runs, Average 34.75, HS 51): Dropped in at the deep end for his first two test matches at number three and showed plenty of promise. His century partnership with Farhat in the second innings run chase at Headingley should have set up a comfortable win. Looks like he could develop into a decent test match batsman if given a run in the side.

Umar Amin - 4 (59 runs, Average 14.75, HS 33. 2 wickets, Average 9.50): Another debutant thrown to the wolves. Difficult to judge on just two matches, but with Butt suggesting Pakistan will resist the urge to send an SOS for Yousuf or Younis, we should know more about Amin by the end of the summer. Would seem to have a bit of a golden arm with the ball though - just ask Marcus North or Shane Watson.

Umar Akmal - 3 (56 runs, Average 14.00, HS 22): Immensely talented (as he showed on debut against New Zealand) but needs to learn to slip out of Twenty 20 and one day mode when compiling a test innings. Played some outrageous shots in the two games, mostly at inappropriate times. Needs to go back to the drawing board.

Shahid Afridi - 5 (33 runs, Average 16.50, HS 31): He came, he slogged, he retired. If he had hung around for another hour in the first innings at Lord's we would have been talking about one of the great counterattacking test innings. Of course, the script was very different. His brief captaincy though does seem to have brought some spirit and unity back into the Pakistan cricket side.

Shoaib Malik - 5 (36 runs, Average 18.00, HS 26): Mohammad Yousuf's best friend replaced Afridi at Headingley and as so often in his stop-start test career, Malik left many observers questioning whether he is good enough for the five day format. If Pakistan do send for Yousuf or Younis, it should be Malik who makes way.

Kamran Akmal - 6 (74 runs, Average 18.50, HS 46): Actually looked like a test class wicketkeeper again after the horrorshow of Sydney. His three quickfire boundaries in the second innings at Headingley finally settled the match in Pakistan's favour. Still doesn't justify his ability with the bat consistently enough though especially with his side's long tail.

Mohammad Aamer - 9 (11 wickets, Average 22.27, BB 4/72): This boy is going to be special. Wasim Akram has already conceded that Aamer is better than he was at the same age, which tells you all you need to know. Has wonderful variations of attack and a cunning brain. Has now dismissed Ponting four times in five tests, which will make him popular with England supporters. And he is only 18.

Umar Gul - 8 (8 wickets, Average 23.62, BB 4/61): The third part of Pakistan's fearsome pace triumvirate bowled well in both matches especially in the second innings at Lord's. Will hope for a hot English summer so that he can get his reverse swing going.

Mohammad Asif - 9 (11 wickets, Average 23.00, BB 3/30): Has unerring accuracy and it would seem comes from the same school of metronomic bowling as Glenn McGrath. Has 94 wickets from 19 tests at an average of 23.18. With controversy now behind him, Asif could now be set to challenge Dale Steyn for the title of the best seamer in the world.

Danish Kaneira - 6 (6 wickets, Average 34.33, BB 2/49): Played the support role to his trio of pacemen and did a decent enough job. Wouldn't have enjoyed his treatment from fellow leggie Steve Smith in the Australian second innings at Headingley.

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